Laguna Beach school district closes in on new calendar that would end fall semester before winter break

Laguna Beach Unified School District trustees directed staff Tuesday to submit revised instructional calendars for the next two years that would end the fall semester before the start of winter break.

After more than a year of discussion and analysis, the school board will consider the calendar changes at its Sept. 11 meeting. District staff members believe that ending the semester before the holidays will enable students, particularly those in middle and high school, to decompress from their rigorous academic schedules.

Speaking to a roomful of parents Tuesday, trustee Carol Normandin said it’s important for the board to meet students’ social and emotional needs.

“We really want to protect your time to spend time with your families and we want to make sure we’re doing what’s best for the children,” Normandin said.

Under the proposed calendar for the 2019-20 school year, classes would begin Aug. 26 and the fall semester would end Dec. 20, moving up fall final exams to before winter break.

For the 2020-21 school year, the board is pondering two calendars that would see students return either Aug. 24 or 26. Either way, the fall semester would be complete before winter break.

But parents concerned about schools holding final exams before the holidays said students already have plenty on their plate among performing arts and sports events and the holiday season. A survey commissioned by the school district this year found that 52% of the parents surveyed opposed proposed calendar changes.

However, in the same survey, 60% of faculty members and 54% of students approved of the changes.

Carole Reagan, a parent of a Laguna Beach High School student, said she opposes making students stress out about studying for finals when they should be enjoying the holiday season with their families.

“There are very strong and widely held oppositions to this calendar change, and those aren’t people who just want more empty beaches or something shallow like that,” Reagan said. “We care just as deeply about our students’ welfare as those who are in favor of the calendar change.”

Laguna Beach Unified to add school resource officer

A school resource officer is headed to Laguna Beach schools following the board’s approval Tuesday of an agreement with the city of Laguna Beach.

The officer will be responsible for developing relationships with students, school administrators and parents in an effort to prevent school violence and crime. The position is funded and managed by the Laguna Beach Police Department.

Police Chief Laura Farinella said the school resource officer will be more attuned to public safety issues, including how to prevent students from speeding on residential streets, than the typical patrol officer because he or she will be at campuses on a regular basis.

“They’ll be so embedded in what’s going on on and off campuses … that they can draw the resources of patrol officers and make them provide extra patrols and pay attention to certain issues that we may not know because we’re not woven into the fabric of the schools yet,” Farinella said.

Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News.